Chapter 138
It was actually more like three hours, but she was sleeping so deeply and peacefully he couldn't bring himself to wake her. She needed the rest anyway, so after he took a shower and wrung out their clothes he settled down on the bunk opposite her when he noticed a book lying on one of the dressers.

He really was an avid reader; the life of a con man wasn't as exciting as most people thought. he spent most of his time in hotel rooms, since he didn't have a real home, and most television was a waste of time, though he liked the history shows a lot. But reading was his favorite pasttime, and since he didn't have a real job, either, he had plenty of leisure time to read in. The book on the dresser was Return of the King, and he smiled, he'd seen Sara with it not long ago, and she must have left it for him. He'd read it before, the trilogy was one of his favorites, and he setlled back on the bunk opposite her, his feet cocked off the side of the bed and his free hand resting lightly on her leg.

The parallels between the book and the island weren't lost on him, and he began to read, losing himself in the story until he looked up with a start, how long had he been reading? The sheet was lifted from Kate's leg and his hand was unconciously rubbing her ankle, and she shifted a little, mumbling and he sighed, folding over the page and closing the book. He shook her leg gently. "Kate."

She didn't respond and he shook her a little harder. "Kate!" She kicked out at his hand and he shrugged, sitting back down and opening the book. She obviously needed more sleep, partly because he didn't want to deal with her cranky butt on the walk to the cliffs. The book absorbed him, quickly, and he kept reading until he felt her shift and stretch beside him. "Morning."

She cracked her eyes. "How long did you let me sleep?"

He grinned sheepishly. "A few hours. I started reading, and you were sleeping so well, I didn't...I didn't want to wake you up."

She crawled out from under the covers and into his lap, nestling against him and pulling the blanket over them. "What are you reading?"

She was obviously still tired and as long as she was willing to take it easy he was going to let her, so he said, "The Return of the King."

"Is it good?" Her hand was playing with the buttons on his shirt, but he could sense that it wasn't sexual again, and he kissed the top of her head, ignoring the shivers her hand was producing.

"Yeah. You've never read Lord of the Rings?"

"No. I'm not a big reader. More of an action girl, you know what I mean?" He was thankful that she wasn't at the moment because he couldn't think of anything he'd rather be doing; not trekking through the jungle, not going into tunnels, not lazing by the beach, this was perfect and he handed her the book.

"It's about...well, it's really complex, so I'll be as simple as possible, otherwise I'd be talking for hours." She didn't seem like she'd mind that but he knew better; in a while she'd be chomping at the bit to go and then they wouldn't be alone anymore, so he was going to make the most of it while they were. "There is a dark overlord, of Middle Earth, and he was defeated by the forces of good, of men and elves a long time before. He is gaining power, though, and he just needs one thing to become all powerful; a ring, one that he forged himself and it controls all, and he can't come back to power without it." She was flipping through the pages, idly, still listening to him, and he continued. "But the forces of good aren't gone, just dormant, and they realize what is happening and spring into action, because one of them, a hobbit, Frodo, he has the ring, which he had inherited from his uncle. His uncle had gotten it from Gollum, this nasty bugger that the ring had corrupted and turned bad. He tricked him out of it, with a riddle game. But the ring is powerful, see, and it possesses whoever has it, makes them want power, but no matter what they mean to use it for it will always be evil."

He paused and she looked up at him, still flipping the pages of the book. "Don't stop."

He smiled and kissed her, softly. "The leaders of the good guys get together, with Frodo and they decide that a band of nine will take the ring and throw it into the Crack of Doom, which is the only place hot enough to destroy it. But the only one who can carry the ring is Frodo, because he will not be so easily corrupted. His three best hobbit friends, a wizard, an elf, a dwarf, a ranger and a prince are set to go with him, and they head into the heart of evil, to destroy the source of the evil lord's power." Her hand had slipped inside of his shirt and she was caressing his chest, idly, still leaning against him. "The ranger, though, he's really a king, the King of Gondor but he's been hiding from it, running from his destiny until the time was right. The group gets separated, a bunch of stuff happens," he stopped, smiling as she glanced up at him questioningly. "It's three books, Kate. We'd be here all day. Frodo and his best friend Sam meet up with Gollum, who wants the ring back, and he promises to lead them into the dark lands so they can destroy it, but it's really so he can get it back. Frodo believes him, though, because the ring is excercising power over him, and he understands the divide in Gollum's heart, how he is possessed by it."

Her hand was still tracing lazy circles on his chest but her eyes were on his, captivated by his voice and the fact that he actually knew all of this; she knew he wasn't stupid, she just hadn't really seen him as the bookish type in the real world. Her eyes were wide as she said, "Keep going."

"The other members of the group went to bring together the people of Middle Earth, to get ready to battle the Dark Lord's army. And it was a whopper, all genetically engineered orcs, these massive, hairy ugly bastrds that only want to kill. Eventually they all end up at the city of Gondor, which has been ruled by a steward since the king died, and the ranger, Aragorn, hasn't claimed the throne yet. But he isn't there, he, the elf, and the dwarf have taken a different path. They are going to get an army of the dead." She shivered a little and his arm tightened around her convulsively. "There is a huge battle and they are losing but then Aragorn comes with the ghost army and it's over in a snap, but the biggest battle is ahead because they still have to go against the Dark Lord in his own lands, so Frodo can get the ring past them and into the Crack of Doom. The Dark Lord falls for it, bringing his armies to the gates so he can destroy his enemy, once and for all, and Frodo gets to the Crack but he can't do it, in the end, he can't destroy it, the ring has too much power over him, and he claims it for his own."

Her eyes were wider, staring at him and he couldn't help himslf; he kissed her and she returned it for a second, but them she pushed him off, smiling. "Finish the story."

"Okay." He wanted to kiss her again but she shook her head and he sighed. "The Dark Lord realizes his mistake, too late, and he turns his armies back to the Crack but Gollum is already there, and he attacks Frodo, trying to get the ring. He bites off Frodo's finger and while he's dancing around in triumph he falls into the Crack, incinerating himself and destroying the ring."

Kate laughed softly. "At least he died happy."

"Sure, if satisfying your obsession and dying for it is happiness." He smiled down at her. "But the Dark Lord is destroyed. The ranger steps forward and claims his throne, walking in his father's footsteps, fulfilling his destiny and returning the land to peace and harmony. Frodo and the other hobbits go home, but for Frodo it's not really home anymore, because he's changed, he's been altered and he doesn't fit anymore. So when he is offered the chance to go...to go to heaven , he takes it."

She glanced at him, sharply. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It doesn't mean anything, Freckles. It's just a story."

She relaxed and said, "What's a hobbit, anyway?"

He shook his head. "Kate, are you totally deviod of any kind of culture? A hobbit is like, well, I tell you, Charlie reminds me of one. He just needs really big, hairy feet."

The mention of Charlie broke the spell, and she stretched, climbing over him to get out of the bed; he was tempted to throw her back down but he let her go, sighing a little at his own idiocy. She drew on her damp clothes, shivering a little at the cold denim, and she rolled her eyes as Sawyer stared at her goosebumpy body, drawing her bra and shirt on quickly. "You ready to go?"

Her abruptness hurt him, and she was immediately sorry; she went to him, kissing him softly. "I'm sorry, I'm just excited and kinda worried about everyone."

"I know you are," he whispered into her hair, "I just don't want to be...second. To any of them."

She laughed, reassuringly. "Oh, James, you'll never be second. You should know that."

He grinned, somewhat relived by getting that particular worry off of his chest. "I do. It's just nice to hear it."

-----

Sara found the trees she'd seen and she started to climb up the trunk but Ana stopped her. "Let me."

She backed away, letting Ana start to shimmy up the trunk, she said, "Do you read much, Ana?"

Ana laughed and inched further up the trunk. "I'm a cop. The only reading I do is rights."

Sara nodded her head, shielding her eyes from the sun as she craned her head up, watching Ana. "Right, right. So I guess you've never read Medea. Or Metamorphoses."

"If I did I don't remember. It would've been in high school." She glanced down, halting her climb. "Why?"

Sara just smiled. "No particular reason. I am just reminded of you and Jack."

Ana kept climbing. "How is that?"

"Medea was in love with Jason, you know, Jason and the Argonauts? Jason and the golden fleece? Her father had the Fleece, and he set Jason tasks, kind of like the Twelve Labors of Hercules. Medea helped him get through the tasks, by giving him warnings and helping him drug his enemy-" Ana glanced down at her sharply, surely she couldn't know about Jack drugging Sawyer? "...her help he completed the tasks but her father would not give up the Fleece, so Jason stole it and Medea, who was in love with him, helped him yet again by killing her brother as a diversion."

Ana had reached the fruit and she plucked one from the branches, dropping it down to Sara, who caught it and slipped it into the bag. "I don't see the connection." It wasn't very convincing.

"They had a bunch of adventures, and she was loyal to the point of committing murder at his request, but after all of that, after everything they went through together he left her to marry a princess. He left her to marry for power."

"Oh."

Catching another mango, Sara said, "And I quote, 'Medea, the daughter of the king, conceived an overwhelming passion for Jason. She fought against it for a time, but when reason could not overcome desire, she debated with herself. Medea, you struggle in vain: some god, I do not know which, opposes you. I wonder if this, or something, like this, is what people indeed call love? Or why would the tasks my father demands of Jason seem so hard? They are more than hard! Why am I afraid of his death, when I have scarcely seen him? What is the cause of all this fear? Quench, if you can, unhappy girl, these flames that you feel in your virgin heart! If I could, I would be wiser! But a strange power draws me to him against my will. Love urges one thing: reason another. I see, and I desire the better: I follow the worse.' "

Ana stopped, about to drop another piece of fruit, staring down at Sara."Wow. I need to read more." It was sad, her voice, and Sara hated to continue. She tried to act nonchalant but Sara didn't buy it as she said, "So what happened to him? What did she do?" Surely someone as ruthless as Medea seemed to be would cut his balls off and wear them for earrings.

"She...killed their children in revenge."

Ana dropped the mango she was holding in surprise, hesitating before reaching up to pick another. "Well, no danger of that." It was bitter and Sara regretted saying anything, but she had a point to make.

"What I'm saying is, she did terrible things for the man she loved, things she knew were wrong. When he betrayed her she did even worse, destroying the people who loved her the most in retaliation." Her voice softened and lowered. "To get back at him."

Ana smiled grimly and dropped another mango. "Well, I don't have any children to kill."

"The kids are just an example."

"I know."

They were quiet for a minute and Ana picked one last piece of fruit before starting to slide down the trunk. As her feet touched the ground she brushed her clothes off, smiling at Sara through the tense air. Handing the last mango to Sara, she grabbed her hand and said, "I never wanted to hurt them, Sara."

Smiling sadly, Sara put her other hand over Ana's, squeezing slightly. "I know, Ana, but you would have." Tense silence held them rooted to the spot until she said, "But that's in the past. No harm, no foul? Well, a little foul." She grinned a little, then dropped her voice to a whisper. "It's what you do now that matters. Kate...she's...she'll love you, Ana, if you let her."

Ana looked at Sara sideways. "And why would I care about that?"

Sara glanced back, smiling serenely. "You do."

She was right, she did care. She had wondered why she had been so set against Jack hurting Kate and while some of it was the baby, some of it was Kate herself. After spending time with her she had pinpointed the feeling; she needed Kate, for something. Kate was the key to her redemption, to her salvation, though she didn't understand how she knew. She just did, and she realized with a little rush that she could love Kate, too.

"Yeah." She smiled and pulled her knife. "Hand me a mango, will ya? I'm starving."